Brother Game
by sierra.steinbrecher
Summary: It's the greatest challenge of the century. Millionaire duelist Seto Kaiba, ninja Sasuke Uchiha, and the Hunting Winchesters, so bad even Heaven and Hell hate them, going up against prodigy state alchemist Edward Elric. The contest is a battle of...brotherly feelings? Don't own either anime.
1. The Kaibas

Me: Okay, I've seen a lot of anime by now, and keep coming across one thing: brothers. I mean, is there a single super popular boy's anime that doesn't have an older/younger brother pair (Yes, I count twins, and no, they don't have to necessarily be related by blood)? But not all these brotherly bonds are at the same level, so I decided to poke a little fun at some of the more ridiculous ones, using a pair that, in my humble opinion, blows every other away. Yes, even you Sasuke.

Sasuke: What?! There's no one better than me! I'm an Uchiha!

Me: Yeah, yeah. Go tell that to Rin and Luffy while you're at it.

Rin: Well, who's this amazing older brother? 'Cause no one's better than me.

Me: As a matter of fact, Rin, there is someone who beats you in the brotherly department and it's

Seto: Me, of course.

Me: (swats Seto in the back of the head.) Just for that, rich boy, you're up for critique first. Now please give up the disclosure, boys.

Alphonse: Sierra owns none of the anime she uses in this story, and there are actually quite a few. (looks at a chapter in the far off distance) Is that Ouran Host Club?

Me: Yes. I did say I counted twins after all. But more on those two later. And, after that enormous and hopefully not sleep worthy author's note, let's get down to business. Take it away, boys!

**Chapter One**

Seto flipped through his emails, most either junk, advertisements, work-related business that someone got the wrong address for, or some money grubber wanting a piece of his company. He clicked on the one for Mokuba's school and saw a flyer for the festival. He deleted it quickly. There was no way he'd show up to such an event. Mixing with dweebs just wasn't his style.

"And you call yourself a big brother."

Seto spun around. "Who said that?"

"You could have at least asked Mokuba if he wanted you to go." The voice was male, but not one of his business colleagues or anyone from that annoying dweeb fest.

"Show yourself!" He yelled into the shadows. Who was stalking him, and what did they want? Someone stepped out of the corner of his office and glared with golden eyes at him. Seto leveled his own glare. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm just a real older brother," continued the blond boy, "and I want you to ask your brother if he wants you to come to the festival. If he says yes, you go."

"And why would I do that? Why should I waste my time fooling around with cheap carnival games when I have a company to run?" Kaiba smirked at the boy. He could level accusations all he wanted, but there was still no way the boy would convince him to waste his time like that.

The intruder smirked. "Let's play a game. If I win, you do what I want."

"And if I win," asked the other boy with an air of confidence bordering on arrogance. He never lost a game.

"I'll admit that you're a better brother to Mokuba than I thought. And I'll make you one thing of your choosing." He clapped his hands together and pressed them to the book shelf next to him. A small crater appeared in the wooden surface as a wooden blade appeared in the stranger's hand.

Kaiba hid his surprise behind a scowl. The dweeb squad always preached about magic, but this, this was real. "What's the game?"

"Simple. We see who's the better brother."

Icy blue eyes rolled. "Please. How would you judge such a competition?"

"By these standards." The boy pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and put it on Kaiba's desk. It read

1\. Time spent with him

2\. Efforts to protect each other

3\. Sacrifices made for each other

4\. How well you work together

5\. His own opinion

Seto laughed at the list. "This will be short then." He motioned to the chair in front of the desk and the blond youth took the seat.

"Alright, first point, and it's pretty appropriate since you claim you don't have time for him."

Seto scoffed. "Well it's not like I'm always the one who decides how to spend my time. I do have to run this company, and he has school. You and your brother probably don't have those kinds of responsibilities."

"Actually," and the boy had the nerve to put his feet up on Kaiba's desk, "I do have a job. I'm a researcher and agent for the military, and that takes more time than even a full time job like yours. Although my brother doesn't have to go to school, being a genius, so I suppose you have a point."

Kaiba closed his eyes and let his smirk widen . "Then how much time can you really afford to spend with your brother?" He'd won this already.

"Every waking moment." Kaiba's eyes snapped open and were filled by the cheeky grin of the boy in front of him. "On to the next point."

"Wait!" Kaiba halted the kid. "How is that possible, you said you worked!"

"Yeah," the kid put his hands behind his head and relaxed, "But Al comes with me on all my trips and helps me research too. Oh wait, that was for a later point." He leaned forward again and put his elbows on the table. "How much time do you spend with your little brother?"

"Let's just move on," growled out Kaiba. This was not what he'd been expecting.

"Fine with me. So what have you had to do to protect your little brother?"

Kaiba regained some of his swagger. "I built this whole company to protect him. And I go after him and save him when he gets kidnapped by our competitors, like that lousy Pegasus."

"yeah, yeah," moaned the kid, "but what did you actually have to do to get him back all those times?"

"I fought in high stakes duel, put my life on the line for him." That made the kid sit straight.

But the drawl was still evident in his voice. "Oh yeah? Give me an example. Talk about that Pegasus guy you mentioned earlier."

So this kid thought he knew everything, did he? Well he wouldn't be smiling much longer. Kaiba launched into a very in depth telling of all the events at Duelist kingdom, even including the parts he didn't necessarily believe. Anything to get this kid off his high horse.

"So let me get this straight," asked the kid as he leaned forward. "One lost duel put you in an emotionless state so deep that you didn't notice youre own little brother getting kidnapped? I'll admit what you did to get him back was impressive, even though I don't believe half of it, but the fact that you let him be taken in the first place?" A blond eyebrow arced. "Kinda negates all the trouble you went through, and you didn't even succeed."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Well how have you protected your little brother?"

"Well, he's pretty tough, so his body doesn't need to be protected." A smile graced his features. "Actually, he's stronger than me in a lot of ways. I guess I don't really protect him at all." He turned that smile on Kaiba. "You win this one, I guess."

"Of course." The millionaire smirked.

"Man, why does everyone smirk at me? He's almost worse than Mustang," Ed muttered under his breath before returning to a normal tone. "Okay, what sacrifices have you made for your brother? Not that you actually did, probably."

"I gave up most of my childhood to take care of him! Our stepfather drove me to my limits, and threatened to throw me and Mokuba out if I didn't measure up!"

"Lucky," Ed replied to the yelling teen. "I didn't really get a childhood at all. Still," he looked back at the other teen leaning over the desk so their faces were about a foot apart, "that's more than I expected."

"What gives you the right to judge me?" the blue-eyed youth spat out.

"Well…" The other teen reached up to his neck and undid the clasp on his black jacket under the red coat. He pulled the right sleeve on both down and exposed his right shoulder. His metal right shoulder. "I think the fact that I gave my right arm and became a military dog at the age of twelve for my brother gives me some say."

Kaiba stood straight again and sat back down in his chair. He had not been expecting that.

Edward pulled the fabric back over his shoulder and fastened the clasp. "Let's move on." He glanced at the sheet of paper and asked, "How well do you two work together?"

The question woke up Kaiba's arrogance. "Oh please. I don't need Mokuba's help."

"So you don't work together," interpreted the annoying blond. "Or rather, you wouldn't admit you needed his help even if you did."

"What about you," retorted Seto. "Does your little brother always have to bail you out?"

"Sometimes," admitted the other boy, "But more likely we're in the situation together, since that's how we do everything. Except those times when he got kidnapped by Greed and Pride." He scratched at his chin. "I guess I did have to bail him out of those, kind of. But that's beside the point. Fact is that Al and I are on equal footing with each other. We couldn't do anything without the other, in fact, we wouldn't want to." Then he pulled a Mustang, that is to say, he smirked. "Guess I win this round too." Then he pulled a radio transmitter out of his coat pocket. "Now let's see what our little brothers think."

But Seto knocked it out of his hands. "Forget it. You've already won this."

Ed shrugged. "Fine, but I wouldn't pass up the chance to hear what your brother really thinks of you." He grabbed the paper off the desk, picked up the small transmitter and headed for the door. "Just be sure to ask Mokuba about that festival."

Kaiba just sat at his desk for a few moments after the strange boy left his office. Then he checked the time. 4:30. Mokuba would be out of school by now. He picked up the phone and speed dialed his brother's number.

**If you liked it, I'll do another brother pair. Please review and tell me what you thought.**


	2. The Uchihas

Ed: Hey, it wasn't that bad. (punches Seto in the arm.) You did win a few categories, at least.

Seto continues to stare off into the distance, shell shocked.

Me: Ed, you beat him. We all know this is what Seto does when he gets beat. Either that or lash out at Joey. Now, if you would.

Ed: Right. Sierra owns neither FMA nor Naruto, which is where my next victim comes from.

Me: Actually, I'm letting Al do this one.

Ed: What?!

Sasuke didn't know why this iron monolith was running his psyche evaluation for possible disorders or problems that could cause problems on missions, but he wanted to get stronger to kill his brother, and the only way to do that was to become a shinobi. Therefore, he had to pass this test.

The suit of armor clanked slightly as he leaned forward. "Let's get started. Please tell me about your relationship with your elder brother, Itachi Uchiha." _Brother, you owe me for this. _But the Kaiba brothers had worked out well enough, so who was he to complain? He hated seeing any sort of family at odds like this.

Al picked up the single sheet of paper and handed it to the bored teen. "These are the qualities I will be asking about." Sasuke eyed the list and almost laughed. Well, this would be an easy conversation.

1\. Time spent with him

2\. Efforts to protect each other

3\. Sacrifices made for each other

4\. How well you work together

5\. His own opinion

"What standard will I be judged against?" he asked his interrogator.

"You will be judged against a different, more stable relationship. Should you fail the test, you will be subjected to a week spent improving your relationship with your brother before being released for active duty. Now please answer the first question."

Sasuke smirked. "You can't administer that punishment. He fled."

"Yes, but my partner has retrieved him." Fancy eyes or not, his brother was the Fullmetal Alchemist. Itachi hadn't been all that hard to get.

Sasuke leapt into action. "Where is he? You had better have left him alive. I still have to get my revenge."

_Oh boy, _groaned the armored teen inwardly. _Maybe I should have let Edward handle this after all. _He didn't need to be screamed at, so Alphonse diverted attention back to the matter at hand. "You will see him, without weapons and with a non-aggression order, should you fail this test. Now, how much time have you spent with him recently?"

"He's a traitor of the village, living on the run! How much time do you think I spent with him?" The teen roared. "And even before that, he never had time for me," mumbled to boy under his breath.

"That's a negative point." Alphonse placed a check mark next to the question. "Have you ever had to protect your brother, or tried to do so?" A glare was his only answer. He placed a check mark beside that question too. "Have you ever made sacrifices for your brother?"

"Yes." Al perked up at the positive answer. "I've dedicated my whole existence to growing stronger, strong enough to kill him." The boy deflated. That had not been the kind of sacrifice he'd been thinking of, although it was a valid point. It just needed to be explored more. Who knows, there might be real love buried under there.

"Why do you want to kill him so much?" _Please, say something positive._

"He killed our whole clan in front of me, and then taunted me, saying I wasn't strong enough to defeat him. Well I will be someday, even if it means I can't have friends or comrades."

Al reeled back. This was far worse than the Kaiba situation! "Why would he do that?"

"To get stronger. Why else?"

Al narrowed his eyes at that. That sounded like the sort of answer Ed might give him if he didn't want Alphonse to know the truth. "Did he tell you that?"

"Yes."

"And you never questioned it?" The other boy's head snapped up and he scrutinized Alphonse. The armored teen plowed ahead. "Wasn't your brother already strong by that time? Why did he have to get stronger? Even you have a reason." The other teen fell silent at that. What reason could Itachi have, unless he just wanted to be strong for the sake of being strong? But that didn't make sense, not with the kind face and gestures he remembered from before the massacre. Could there be more to it?

Alphonse let the boy stew for a few moments before moving onto the next question. "Did you guys ever work together on something?" The boy shook his head.

Al turned away from the boy and held up the small radio. He pressed the transmission button and said "Ed, you there? Copy," into the small microphone.

Ed's voice replied through the static. "I'm here. Is it time for the last question already?"

"Yeah," Alphonse replied. "Is Itachi there?"

"Yep. He's tried to escape at least fifteen times, though. Should I put him on?"

"Not yet," he answered. "Let me tell Sasuke."

"Okay, but hurry up. I don't know how many more attempts I can take before I just knock the guy out."

Alphonse chuckled at his older brother's temper and turned back to the boy across the table. "The last part is different." The teen brought his head up and made eye contact again. Al held up the small radio. "My partner asks your brother what he thinks of you and we both listen. Are you ready?" Sasuke wanted to run. Itachi was going to tell him that he was horrible, weak, a disgrace to their name. He shut his eyes tight and looked away. Screw the Uchiha name, he was not going to just sit there and listen to this!

The radio crackled to life as Ed's voice asked someone else, "What do you think of your little brother, Sasuke?"

"He needs to get stronger," answered Itachi's disembodied voice and Sasuke flinched away from the sound. "so he can come kill me. I need him to wipe away the stain of our family and complete what I started."

"Do you think he loves you, at all?" Edward had clearly been thrown for a loop as much as Al had today. How could two brothers feel this way about each other?

"I hope he doesn't. That will make his task easier. I have done my best to ensure that, when we meet, he can kill me without a shred of remorse. That is not something I wish for him to endure." Numbly, Al put another check point on the paper and went to tell the instructor the results. Those two needed some serious quality time.

With supervision.

Armed supervision.

**Man, this was supposed to be funny and ended up serious instead. I'm lousy at this sort of thing. Please Review, and let me know if any of this was decent.**


	3. The Winchesters

Me: Wow, I was pretty brutal last time, ouch.

Al: Don't feel too bad, they really were dysfunctional.

Ed: Al, one wanted to kill the other and the other wanted him to do it. I'd say that's just insane.

Me: You think they're crazy, wait until you meet your next pair. You're going to America, boys!

Ed: Why? I thought we were sticking with anime.

Me: Yeah… But the Winchesters were far too much fun to pass up. Go get 'em Ed!

"So what are we looking for again?" Sam asked his older brother.

Dean refused to look away from the road. "We're looking for a kid with a red coat and a braid, walking with a huge suit of armor. Supposedly, he can fix anything."

_ Fix anything…_ "Do you think it's witchcraft?

Dean nodded. "Either that, or another antichrist. I really hope it's the first one."

The taller brother looked back out the front window, brows knitting at the memory. "Don't you think Cas would have let us know if it was another antichrist? I mean, if he's already using his powers consciously, he's gotta have a pretty big target on his back." He let his head fall against the glass of the right hand window. Lucifer was probably tracking this kid too. He really didn't want to bump into him agai-

"Dean, park over there." There was a flash of yellow and bright red, headed into the ally.

His brother instantly pulled over the car and asked, "You see something?"

Now that the radio was off, Sam heard it. "Yeah, and hear that?"

The older brother listened. "Sounds like a tin can rattling around."

"You said he always had a suit of armor with him, right?" They shared a look, grabbed the guns in the glove compartment, and leapt from the car into the ally.

The instant they were out of view of the street, the ground erupted under their feet, but at that same moment the walls reached out to grab them. One of Dean's feet got caught in the suddenly liquid ground, but he struck out with the other one in a kick in an attempt to get Sam's arm free from the brick hand that had managed to grab it. There was a crackle of blue light and suddenly his leg was encased in a slightly smaller brick hand that stemmed from the one holding Sam's arm. Then he noticed that Sam's feet were trapped too. They were stuck.

"Dean," Sam muttered, and he knew that tone. It meant that something really dangerous was in front of his little brother. He strained his neck and just made out a flash of yellow-no, golden-hair and what looked like an iron suit of armor.

The blond smirked at them. "Are you guys always this easy to catch?"

In typical Dean fashion, the older brother smirked. "Well, usually our opponents don't bend the walls. They're too focused on killing us."

To his surprise, the blond nodded. "Yeah, we kind of heard about that. Bobby told us everything, well, after Castiel brought us over."

Okay, Sam was ridiculously confused right now. "Wait, how do you know Bobby?"

And then the iron moved. It…shrugged its shoulders. Okay, so they were dealing with a kid who could bend reality _and _a spirit attached to an object. Or maybe the kid was making it move. Either way, it was freaky. "Castiel brought us in to do a sort of intervention for you two, and Bobby told us where to find you, so…" Okay, the suit could talk, and seemed to think for itself. While that didn't rule out being controlled by the kid, it did put a damper on the idea. So, spirit. But what sort of spirit was just…there? And didn't go crazy?

Then what it had said registered. "Wait, Cas brought you here? Why," Sam asked, honestly dumbfounded. If this was about the demon blood again-

"Well, he sorta sensed you two having issues with your relationship, so he called us in," the blond explained, smirking.

Dean really wanted to kick him in the face. "Oh, right, because you have such a great track record with counselling."

"Yeah, we do actually," the tin can said. That thing was really starting to creep Dean out. "You should have seen what we did with the Kaiba brothers."

"And the Uchihas," the blond replied, still smirking. _Okay, that smirk is really irritating, _Deal thought. If he could just reach his gun…

The iron shuddered. It actually shuddered! The whole thing started quaking. "Please, brother, don't remind me."

The blond's grin just widened. "Yeah, well, hopefully these guys won't be quite as screwed up, Al. Still, an angel called us in so…"

"Yeah," the tin can answered. "We should probably get started."

The blond put his hands together like he was clapping and then touched the ground. Blue lightning zapped out from between his fingertips and Sam and Dean were dragged to the walls by their bound feet and the bricks wrapped around them until they were completely immobilized. The short one took a piece of paper out of his pocket and waved it in front of the two brothers. "You two are going to answer these questions honestly, and then we'll let you go. That's it." He turned and looked at Al. "Do you want to do the questioning or should I?"

Al, apparently that was his name, shuddered again. "You can do it, Ed. I don't think I want to after Sasuke."

Sam's nerves flaired. "So what, you're another trickster? You're going to make us answer these and then kill us?"

The blond, Ed, rolled his eyes. "What is it with you hunters and tricksters?" That Bobby guy has acused him of being the same thing. Man, the amount of tests he'd had to go through for that guy was insane, and some of them had been pretty weird. "I'm an alchemist. It's a science, not some weird kind of magic. I thought that angel was your friend. Do you really think he'd put you in danger?"

Sam looked over at Dean. He was nodding. "Go ahead. Ask," he challenged, but was just the tiniest bit disconcerted when a bloodthirsty smile crossed the kid's face.

"Okay, first question," the shorty practically crowed. "How much time do you spend together?"

Dean chuckled. "Pretty much twenty-four seven. How about you, short stack?"

Al grabbed Ed before he could punch the older Winchester. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WENDIGOS BECAUSE THEY PASS HIM OVER IN FAVOR OF MICE!"

"Brother, please calm down!" The suit of armor asked. "Now, promise you won't attack them if I put you down?" Edward grumbled, but nodded and the armor let go. When he next spoke, he actually sounded…pleased. "Well, that's pretty good so far, Ed. Let's ask the next one."

Ed shook himself and glowered at the other two men. He rubbed his right hand and muttered something uncomplimentary. "Okay," he said, looking them straight in the eye with that really, really annoying smirk on his face again. "So what do you do to protect each other?"

Sam almost smiled. "We always look out for each other. We watch each other's back while we're fighting, I try to get him," he nodded towards Dean, "to not bottle everything up, he keeps me from killing myself over being a freak."

"You're not a freak, Sam," Dean groaned out.

The taller boy smiled. "See? We look out for each other." And Sam could have sworn that if the armor could have smiled it would have.

"See brother? They're not so bad," the tin can said. He almost sounded, well, happy.

Reluctantly, the blond stopped smirking. "Okay, they're not as bad. Actually," and now he was grinning, "they sort of sound like you and me."

Okay, Sam was even more confused now. "Wait, are you two brothers?"

"Yeah," Ed said. "I'm Edward Elric, this is my brother Alphonse. I probably should have introduced us earlier."

Al spoke up in a tone that gave the distinct impression that he would have liked to roll his eyes. "Brother, you have terrible manners."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, next question." Dean flinched. Hopefully this didn't lead to another chick flick moment. That last question almost gave him hives. "What sacrifices have you made for each other?"

Sam…blinked, and looked at Dean, in a clear sign that he expected his older brother to answer this one since he'd taken the last one. "I went to Hell for him." He nodded towards Sam.

Ed opened his mouth to deliver some truly biting remark, but Al put a hand on his shoulder. "We met an angel, Brother. He's probably telling the truth." Ed closed his mouth and nodded. That was actually pretty impressive. Then the armor turned towards Sam. "And what about you?"

"Well," The taller brother said, thinking over the question for a minute. "I tried to go to Hell for him, but the demons wouldn't let me, and I pretty much gave up an addiction for him, and a normal life in college, and a lot of friends."

Ed looked at them both and they squirmed a bit under his intense stare. The kid was worse than Cas. Then Dean noticed what he was doing and abruptly stopped. This kid was at least a foot shorter than him; he was not going to let the shrimp make him squirm! And, just to show him who was boss, Dean asked, "How about you? What have you given up?" But the shrimp just rolled his eyes. Rolled his EYES! The nerve! What could he have possibly done that compared to being in-

Oh, Dean thought as he stared at the pure iron arm attached to the kid at the shoulder. Maybe the kid had something of a point. "Al and I made a mistake," the shorty explained. "He almost paid for it with his life, but I gave my arm to bring him back. Now, let's move on."

He put his black jacket and red coat sleeves back on his right arm and Sam looked over at his brother. "So," he asked, even as Dean shook his head that he should just drop it and not antagonize the crazy pint-sized menace and his huge tin man accomplice, "If you two are brothers, who's the older one?" The blond waved lazily, indicating that he was. That almost made Sam laugh. So the shorter brother was the older one, just like with him and Dean. He was starting to like these two, except for the fact that the kid in the armor still creeped him out.

"Okay, next question," he plowed on, hoping to avoid any more questions about him and Al. The angel had said nothing about an interrogation. "How well do you guys work together?"

Dean glared at his brother and Sam made a face. Why did _he _have to get stuck with this question? But he took the bullet anyway and said, "Well, when we're on the job, we split the workload with research and do what we're each better at, and then, when we go after the thing, we watch each other's backs and get it done."

"Yeah," the older added, "especially when things get tougher. It helps that he usually listens when I tell him to do something." And, oh yeah, there was a huge amount of Sarcasm in there.

Sam just rolled his eyes. "Dean, how many more times do I have to say it? I'm sorry about Ruby and I know that I was stupid."

"Stupid doesn't even begin to cover it. You trusted a demon. You never listen to me, and you always-" He stopped when he felt the kid's Castiel level of intense stare on him. Seriously, did the kid take lessons from the angel or something?

He turned to look at Al again. "And you thought they sounded like us."

The armor put out his giant metal hands, almost imploringly and stated, "Brother, you never listen to me either."

The blond jabbed his finger in the helmet's face, and argued, "Oh yeah? What about that time I let you go out in a snowstorm and covered for you? Or when you and I cracked Marco's code? You had some great ideas then, and I took those and applied them. Or what about the Scar strategy? You helped out with that too!"

Dean had the distinct impression that the armor wanted to roll his eyes, but then he sighed and there was something almost…fond? Well, something like that. "I get it, Brother. And yeah, I agree. They definitely don't work very well together, it sounds like."

"Yeah," Ed said, crossing his arms behind his head and arching his back. "They could probably work on their teamwork when they aren't fighting, since they did say they were pretty good at that, and so did the old guy and the angel. Next question?" He glanced down at the paper, broke out in a grin that scared Sam only just the tiniest bit, and handed the paper over the Alphonse. "This should be interesting." He walked up until he was right in front of dean, clapped and hit the ground. It rose up under his feet until he was at eye level with the older Winchester, staring him right in the face. "What do you think of Sam?" Dean opened his mouth for a wise crack. "And before you give some smart answer, know that your brother's right behind me and you might not get another shot to say this with the Apocalypse right around the corner."

Okay, that made him think. Dean craned his neck a bit and spotted Sam over the kid's shoulder. What did he think of him? "I think he's," he cleared his throat, "got a lot of issues, a lot of anger, and I still have trouble trusting him sometimes, especially after Ruby, but I guess…" He looked away from Sam's face and back at the kid. The gold eyes threw him for a moment, but the intensity in them hadn't changed. "He's the only person in this world I've got left who I really care about, and he's the only person I don't want to let down."

But that apparently wasn't enough for the blond, because he asked, "Why?"

Come on, did he really have to say it? He could feel the urge to paint his toenails already coming from the overabundance of chick flick mushiness. But the kid wouldn't let him go until he answered, so… "Because, once, he was the only one who believed in me." And to his great relief, the kid nodded. Sam looked down, hiding a smile, genuine.

Then, to Sam's utter horror, the kid knelt, clapped, and moved his footstool over and up a few more inches so his gaze was level with Sam's. The golden eyes threw him too, but he didn't get a chance to say anything before Ed asked, "And what do you think about him?" He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder in Dean's general direction. Al almost laughed when he saw Sam lean around Ed to look at his brother, the exact same way Dean had just seconds before.

Sam's hand twitched like he wanted to run it through his hair. The kid definitely wasn't going to let them go until he answered. "How many more questions after this?"

Ed waved the sheet around a little and answered, "This is the last one. Then we'll let the both of you go and hopefully that angel comes to get me and Al and take us back home. So, spill."

_I suddenly understand why Dean hates expressing his feelings, _Sam confessed. _This is really awkward. Wait, This is a perfect opportunity for me to tell him everything that's been stewing recently, and he can't punch me. _And Sam let loose. "I think he can't be serious about anything unless he's angry, usually at me, he gives up way too easily,"

Dean rolled his eyes. "If you're talking about the whole Michael thing,"

But Al stepped in and covered his mouth. Ed nodded to him and then turned back to Sam. "Go on," he demanded.

"Sometimes he's overbearing, he doesn't listen, he bottles up his emotions until he burns out, explodes, or I force him to let them out, but he's the one thing I've always counted on, more than Dad, more than anything. And I need him with me to keep me human, even if he does treat me like a freak sometimes." Man, he really hoped that was enough, but the kid didn't think so because he was still staring at him. "And I also think he's loyal, cares a lot about people, sometimes too much, and he's smarter than me, about a lot of things. He keeps a clear head when I don't, and I rely on that a lot. And because of those things, I believe in him, even when he doesn't believe in himself."

And that finally seemed to satisfy him. Edward clapped again, and their bonds went back into the wall, freeing the both of them, as his footstool retreated back into the ally's dead end where Al had walked back to once he'd made it clear that Dean couldn't interrupt. The older brother looked over at his baby brother who knew him far too well, and suddenly, he was looking at the blue eyes he'd been so reminded of every time the blond stared at him. "Based on the…slightly dumbfounded expressions on," he turned around and looked at Sam, "both of your faces, I presume the Elrics were successful."

Ed smirked and added, "One more to add to the list, feather brain." Castiel looked a bit confused by the reference but the kid just rolled his eyes. "So can we go back to Amestris now?" The angel nodded, walked over and touched them both on the forehead. A moment later, the angel was gone too and two very surprised, shaken brothers were just left in the ally, staring at each other.

That was far beyond their usual level of crazy.


End file.
